Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker’s scheduled appearance before the Democratic-controlled House Judiciary Committee Friday was up in the air after he threatened to pull out unless a subpoena was withdrawn.

Committee chair Jerrold Nadler wrote Whitaker Thursday evening that he wouldn’t subpoena him if “you appear before the committee tomorrow morning and if you are prepared to respond to questions from our members.”

Nadler wouldn’t drop the subpoena threat but told Whitaker they could handle concerns over specific questions “on a case by case basis.”

“I remain willing to appear to testify tomorrow, provided that the chairman assures me that the committee will not issue a subpoena today or tomorrow, and that the committee will engage in good-faith negotiations before taking such a step down the road,” Whitaker (inset) said in an earlier statement.

He charged that the committee, which seeks to question him about why he has refused to recuse himself from special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, had “deviated from historic practice and protocol and taken the unnecessary and premature step of authorizing a subpoena to me, the acting attorney general, even though I had agreed to voluntarily appear.”

He called the subpoena a breach of his deal to testify.

“Political theater is not the purpose of an oversight hearing, and I will not allow that to be the case,” Whitaker said.

Whitaker’s move came after the committee approved a tentative subpoena for Whitaker — even though he agreed to testify voluntarily.

Nadler maintained that he did not want to invoke his subpoena power, but was taking no chances.

“I hope not to have to use the subpoena,” Nadler said.

“Unfortunately, a series of troubling events over the last fewmonths suggest that we should be prepared,” he added, without elaborating.

Whitaker’s possible testimony came as the Senate closed in on confirming William Barr, President Trump’s nominee for attorney general.

Whitaker was named to the post after Trump forced Jeff Sessions out of the office after the midterm elections.